Says changed parties for people’s sake; Set to rejoin Trinamool Congress after 6 years
MARGAO
Varca strongman Churchill Alemao is all set to create a record of sorts -- of changing political parties and embracing new outfits in his political career spanning a little over three decades and a half.
When the NCP MLA dons colours for Mamata Didi’s Trinamool Congress at the famous Dando football grounds, Benaulim, on Monday, ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls, this would be probably the record 10th time that Churchill would be embracing a political party in his political journey that began in the mid-80s.
In a way, it would be a homecoming for Churchill when he embraces the TMC on Monday, having enjoyed a brief honeymoon with the Bengal-based party around six years ago after throwing his hat in the South Goa election ring in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Indeed, it has been a long political journey for the seaman-turned-politician ever since his first kiss with politics in the mid-80s when he made his political debut on the Dr Wilfred De Souza-led Goa Congress in the 1984 polls.
His political debut ended on a losing note, but there’s been no looking back for Churchill as he heralded his entry into politics by polling an impressive 5555 votes. He lost to Monte D’Cruz.
Churchill later joined the Congress along with Goa Congress leaders, including Dr Wilfred de Souza and Luizinho Faleiro, and made it to the Goa Legislative Assembly on the Congress banner in 1989.
His honeymoon with the Congress appeared short-lived as he led a revolt against then Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane, formed a new political outfit Goan People’s Party in 1990 to become the Chief Minister, though for a brief period, under the banner of Progressive Democratic Front (PDF).
Five years later, Churchill Joined the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) to take over the reins of the regional outfit. In the 1994 Assembly polls, the UGDP bagged three Assembly seats and Churchill went to become an MP on the Two Leaves symbol in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls.
He, however, decided to return to the Congress a decade later on the eve of the 1999 Assembly polls. He retained the Benaulim seat on the Congress banner in 1999, but his smooth political innings was cut short five years later when little known Mickky Pacheco emerged as a giant killer after he successfully stormed Churchill’s Benaulim fort in the 2002 polls.
Taking the setback in his stride, Churchill made a political comeback two years later, when he again won the South Goa seat by a landslide margin on the Congress banner in the 2004 polls. He, however, quit the Congress in the run-up to 2007 Assembly polls to head the Save Goa Front. In a political gamble, Churchill shifted his constituency from Benaulim to Navelim and emerged triumphant against Luizinho Faleiro in the 2007 polls.
Around six months later, he returned to the Congress fold to become the PWD Minister in the Congress-led government headed by then Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
After failing to retain the Navelim seat in 2012 following his defeat at the hands of giant killer, goalkeeper-turned-politician Avertano Furtado, he was left in the cold in the Congress. He severed ties with the Congress again on the eve of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in protest against the denial of the South Goa Lok Sabha ticket to daughter Valanka.
He surprised everyone by throwing his hat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on the Trinamool Congress banner but came a cropper. With the Congress refusing to reopen doors for the seasoned political campaigner, Churchill embraced the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on the eve of the 2017 Assembly polls to regain the Benaulim seat after a gap of 15 years. As he completes five-year innings, Churchill is bracing up to dump the NCP and return to the TMC on Monday.
Says Churchill: “I had given time for the NCP to take a call on the alliance with the Congress, but there was no positive news coming for the last eight months”.
He added: “Churchill is not dependent on any political banner. My party is my people. I have joined and quit so many parties, but my decisions were based on the prevailing circumstances and centred on my people.”
